Insights

When CRM Failure Is Not an Option

The promise of customer relationship management is big, but more than a few well-respected companies are underwhelmed by what their brand-new CRM systems—highly touted and with price tags to match—have actually been able to deliver. And those are the lucky ones. Others have suffered train wrecks, having to start from scratch after writing off millions of dollars of investments.

What’s going on? We’ve worked with 1,200 companies in more than 70 countries on sales and marketing effectiveness issues and here’s what the chief commercial officer of one major B-to-B company had to say, echoing the sentiments of so many other executives:

“We had this great original vision that CRM was going to help us get closer to our customers, but our sales reps just don’t get what’s in it for them. They complain that they have to spend inordinate amounts of time entering data just so their managers can keep track of them. At the same time, the managers don’t trust the information because they think sales reps put in what the managers want to hear. The marketing people use their own system and think that the data in the CRM system is useless. Meanwhile, I’m writing big checks every year for this and the only thing that has NOT changed is how we interact with customers.”

There is no one solution that’s right for everyone. However, to enable companies to enhance their CRM adoption and impact in a thoughtful and organized way, we’ve identified and documented 10 CRM “must haves”

About the Experts

Ron Siahpoosh is a principal based in ZS’s Chicago office and the CRM practice lead. He has wide-ranging experience helping companies in a variety of industries—including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, high-tech, financial services and travel—improve their customer engagements and relationships.

Torsten Bernewitz is a principal based in ZS’s Princeton, N.J., office and the global change management practice lead. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies and their affiliates in the United States, Europe, South America and the Far East, helping them transform their selling organizations.

IMPROVE CRM USAGE AND IMPACT

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